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State Reform Profile

Ohio

Ohio has enacted meaningful drug sentencing reform through Issue 1 and HB 86.

ALTREFORM COMPOSITE76/100

Key Statistics

Incarceration Rate
417
per 100,000 residents
Annual Cost
$29K
per incarcerated person
3-Year Recidivism
63%
reincarcerated within 3 yrs
Racial Disparity
4.9×
Black vs. White incarceration
Alt. Programs
40
active diversion programs
Reform Initiatives
10
tracked by AltReform

Incarceration by Race

OH Overall417
National Avg568
Black (est.)1,226
White (est.)163

Incarceration rate per 100,000 residents. Racial estimates based on BJS/Sentencing Project methodology.

Recidivism Rate

63%3-year recidivism
This stateNational avg: 67%

Percent of people reincarcerated within 3 years of release. Source: BJS recidivism data series.

Cost vs. Alternatives

$29K
incarceration/yr
vs.
~$5K
diversion/yr

Active & Passed Reforms

4 initiatives

HB 86 – Sentencing ReformView full details →

Reduced prison sentences for non-violent offenders, saving $500M.

PassedSentencing2011
AltReform Score82/100

Marsy's Law / Victim RightsView full details →

Constitutional victim rights amendment.

PassedSentencing2017
AltReform Score64/100

HB 1 – Drug Sentencing ReformView full details →

Reduced penalties for low-level drug possession.

PassedDrug Policy2021
AltReform Score77/100

Data Sources & Methodology

Reform data sourced from state legislative records, BJS Criminal Justice Statistics, the Vera Institute Incarceration Trends dataset, and The Sentencing Project. AltReform prediction scores (0,100) are generated by our ML model trained on 20+ years of state-level reform outcomes, weighting recidivism reduction, racial equity impact, cost-effectiveness, and political feasibility. Statistics are the most recent available (2021,2024).

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